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Australians would vote yes now to constitutional recognition: poll

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: If a referendum was held now to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution, a new poll is foreshadowing an overwhelming "yes" vote.

The poll, which has a two point margin of error, was commissioned by the advocacy group for constitutional change, "Recognise". It shows a crucial "double majority" of support across the nation and in individual states.

The Prime Minister wants the referendum to be held in 2017. This research is being used to pressure Tony Abbott to meet with the Opposition Leader and Indigenous representatives urgently to discuss the next steps towards a vote.

TANYA HOSCH: Well it's given us an overwhelmingly positive result to show that if people were asked to vote today in a referendum that 75 per cent of Australians would vote yes and that would include almost nine in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also voting yes.

ANNA HENDERSON: When you look a potential trend here, we did have an ANU (Australian National University) poll published earlier this year which found 82 per cent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with constitutional recognition. Your poll is measuring 75 per cent support. Do you have any concern that support is dropping away as time is passing?

TANYA HOSCH: No, we don't because our poll is actually a larger group than the ANU poll and so we're really confident that 75 per cent positive result were people asked to vote today in a referendum represents an overwhelming amount of support and we're really pleased with that.

ANNA HENDERSON: During the week the chairman of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, Warren Mundine, described the push for recognition as turning into a dog's breakfast. Is that the case? Is there now a fairly muddled view amongst the general population as to what this is trying to achieve?

TANYA HOSCH: No, I don't think so because I believe that people would anticipate that in this process that a whole range of opinions and ideas are going to come forward. It's like the parliamentary select committee responsible was recommending to the Federal Parliament the final model for us all to consider has been consulting around the country for some time. They're due to report at the end of June.

But I would say that there is a pressing and urgent need for a conversation that has been promised by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to meet together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.

I think such a discussion will be a very important next step just to ensure that there's absolutely clarity about how it is that we are going to reach a final position on a model. And I believe that people will understand that there is going to be a number of ideas discussed during that process.

From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.